Tabloids
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 2
1. Defining the research topic 3
2. Previous research on tabloids 3
3. Research methodology 4 3.1. Research questions 4 3.2. Research instrument 4 3.3. Sample 5 3.4. Ethical issues 5
4. Describing and analyzing the data 6 4.1. Collecting data 6 4.2. Analyzing and decoding the data 6
5. Conclusions 9 5.1. Limitations of the study and implications for further research 9
REFERENCES 10
INTRODUCTION The popular tabloid is instantly recognizable among the papers piling up at the news agent’s. Colorful and compact, it stands out from the mass of black-and-white print through its bold, screaming headlines, its picture-dominated front page and the generous use of color.
Originally, the word tabloid referred to the size and format. Tabloid papers were smaller and handier than normal newspapers, known as broadsheets. But today, for most people, the word tabloid has nothing to do with shape and size. What makes a tabloid a tabloid is content, and above all, style.
Contentious features of the tabloids include the typically sensationalist and personalized news style, and blurring of boundaries between private and public, politics and entertainment, but also their populist and partisan political interventions, their celebrity-orientated and sexualized news agenda and the use of aggressive journalistic methods such as paparazzi coverage.
In my paper I am interested in studying a particular British tabloid, The Sun. According to Sofia Johansson, in “Reading Tabloids- Tabloid Newspapers and Their Readers” (2007:8), 15 million people everyday read The Sun newspaper in Britain. However, despite the controversy and wide reach of tabloids, research into their role among audiences is scarce. Why are they popular? How do they attract people in reading them? This is the question I attempt to find an answer to or for which I make assumptions.
As I mentioned at the beginning, most people are drawn by the screaming headlines,
INTRODUCTION 2
1. Defining the research topic 3
2. Previous research on tabloids 3
3. Research methodology 4 3.1. Research questions 4 3.2. Research instrument 4 3.3. Sample 5 3.4. Ethical issues 5
4. Describing and analyzing the data 6 4.1. Collecting data 6 4.2. Analyzing and decoding the data 6
5. Conclusions 9 5.1. Limitations of the study and implications for further research 9
REFERENCES 10
INTRODUCTION The popular tabloid is instantly recognizable among the papers piling up at the news agent’s. Colorful and compact, it stands out from the mass of black-and-white print through its bold, screaming headlines, its picture-dominated front page and the generous use of color.
Originally, the word tabloid referred to the size and format. Tabloid papers were smaller and handier than normal newspapers, known as broadsheets. But today, for most people, the word tabloid has nothing to do with shape and size. What makes a tabloid a tabloid is content, and above all, style.
Contentious features of the tabloids include the typically sensationalist and personalized news style, and blurring of boundaries between private and public, politics and entertainment, but also their populist and partisan political interventions, their celebrity-orientated and sexualized news agenda and the use of aggressive journalistic methods such as paparazzi coverage.
In my paper I am interested in studying a particular British tabloid, The Sun. According to Sofia Johansson, in “Reading Tabloids- Tabloid Newspapers and Their Readers” (2007:8), 15 million people everyday read The Sun newspaper in Britain. However, despite the controversy and wide reach of tabloids, research into their role among audiences is scarce. Why are they popular? How do they attract people in reading them? This is the question I attempt to find an answer to or for which I make assumptions.
As I mentioned at the beginning, most people are drawn by the screaming headlines,
References: Baker, T.( 1988). Doing Social Research. DePaul University. McGraw-Hill, Inc. Berelson, B. ( 1954). Content Analysis, in Gardner Lindzey(ed.), Handbook of Sociology Psychology, Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, Mass. Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: discourse and ideology in the press , Routledge. Friedrich, Otto."A Vivacious Blonde Was Fatally Shot Today or How to Read a Tabloid." Language Awareness. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. NY: St. Martin 's. Greenslade, Roy (2004) ‘Prejudice, Distortion and the Cult of Celebrity: Is the Press Going to Hell in a Handcart?’, inaugural lecture presented at City University, London . Sofia Johansson, (2007) -Reading Tabloids- Tabloid Newspapers and Their Readers. Yule, G. (2006). The study of language. Cambridge University Press